"..."

Ira leaned against a door, looking out through the huge glass window of the corridor at the flashing neon lights on the street... the carpet covering the ground, and the rocks, trees, and vase decorations that could be seen every now and then outside the corridor.

This proves that the house is not cheap and that the owner is of high status.

Outside the door are the bustling streets of this city, with countless high-rise buildings and mobile vendors everywhere—some selling fish balls, some selling thick noodles, and some selling fish balls and thick noodles.

Of course, there are also various electronic and print advertisements, which are perfectly combined, creating a feeling of both retro and sci-fi.

In short, it was Kowloon Walled City.

From inside the doorway where Ira was leaning against, Ira could hear the voices of three people talking: a middle-aged man, a middle-aged woman, and a girl whose voice sounded very young... while Ira simply leaned against it quietly.

His expression was calm, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

"..."

Then, the snake's head emerged from above... Yes, although it sounds strange, the snake's head did indeed hang upside down from the ceiling, appearing in Ira's field of vision like a real snake.

Her hair, following the laws of physics, hung down, making her look like a female ghost from an old horror movie.

"Aren't you going to see your family?"

Snake Sheath asked softly... But in fact, the house was also top-notch in terms of soundproofing. If it weren't for Ira and Snake Sheath being "extraordinary," no one else would be able to hear their conversation.

"I don't know what you're so attached to or what your understanding is..."

As she spoke, Snake Shedding her skin, she jumped up from the ceiling, patted the silent Ira on the shoulder, and said, "But from any angle, I don't see any reason why you would deliberately avoid seeing your parents and sister."

Indeed, that is the truth.

"It wasn't intentional."

Ira refuted the snake molt explanation, sighed, shook his head helplessly, and replied irrelevantly, "Do you know how long it's been since I last saw them?"

Then, before the snake could guess, Ira said directly: "You should also know that when I was in the Federation, I didn't come back for ten years, plus the sixty years in the Prime Material Plane... although the Federation's time can't be considered to have passed during those sixty years."

In other words...

Is it actually a case of "feeling apprehensive as one approaches home"?

Regarding the question about the snake molt, Ira hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Listening to the conversation inside the door, he said with emotion, "They seem to be doing well, and Xiaoxiao has grown into a young woman... I don't need to interfere with them."

If this is Ira's choice, then there's nothing to say about the snake molt, after all, it's just Ira's cheat code, or at the very least, it's the cat Ira kept when she was in the Federation.

"Hey, look... I've come across another video of yours."

"Oh~ I've been seeing this every day lately... That kid is really something else in the other world."

"Yes, but recently, from what those people who have been there have said, it seems that the other world is also about to end."

"Haha, bro, you're in such a bad situation."

"Didn't people often come to see us before, saying they were Xiao La's subordinates?"

"He didn't even clarify whether he was a subordinate during the Federation era or a subordinate from another world."

"That young man? He's probably from another world..."

"I just don't know when Iraq will come back."

"..."

At the doorway, amidst the conversation between Ira's parents and sister, the snake sheath looked at Ira with questioning eyes... while Ira simply shook her head, indicating that she had no need to meet with her family.

Then……

"Lord Ira?"

A man dressed as an alchemist saw Ira standing in the corridor and greeted her, saying in surprise, "What a coincidence, I just happened to run into you."

Huh? What's up with this guy?

Amid Ira's puzzled expression, the male alchemist raised the fruit basket in his hand and said with a smile, "I died before. I heard that Lady Ira lived here, and considering how much you have taken care of us, I thought I would like to come and meet you."

The male alchemist, smiling, handed the fruit basket to Ira, saying, "However, since Lady Ira is preparing to return, I can simply give you the fruit..."

This guy got it wrong. I don't usually live here at all... I have a house approved in Central City, which is closer to the Department of Race Adjudication. This is a house I bought myself.

Thinking this, Ira chatted with the male alchemist for a few moments with some emotion, and learned that... this guy had just died in the calamity of [Resurrection of the Dead], which was really too careless.

The alchemist, with an awkward smile, left the house... leaving behind Ira carrying a fruit basket and the smiling snake skin.

"So, why don't you take this opportunity... to offer this as a gift?"

Ira glanced at the snake sheath as it spoke, then reached out and pressed it on her head, forcing her to look at him, and said, "You, turn into a cat!"

This isn't some strange play, it's...

If Ira were to bring a woman in like this, his parents and sister would definitely make a big fuss and say a lot of nonsense, which would make things very troublesome.

"Hmm~ Hmph~"

The snake, understanding this as well, let out a humming sound like a villager in Minecraft, and then its form quickly changed... into the long-haired ragdoll cat that Ira remembered.

Because no matter how you look at it, it's the same cat from his previous life, so Ira's feelings are very complicated... He looked at the snake sheath with a speechless expression as it meowed and then jumped onto the fruit basket and lay down.

Even though she knew it was a snake's molt, Ira couldn't resist reaching out and petting the cat a few times.

...

Wait a minute, if the cat was originally a snake sheath, then when I used to go to the toilet, I had a human mind... so why did the cat still like to follow me in?

Also, when a cat licks its genitals, is it the snake shedding its skin and licking itself? To disguise herself as a cat, has she sacrificed too much, and has she wronged herself too much?

This question lingered in Ira's mind, preventing him from finding peace, and because he wouldn't actually ask it aloud, it might become a permanent problem.

But now, it really is still...

"Knock knock knock~"

Ira knocked softly on the door.

Who is it?

"..."

"Hahoo~"

Faced with her mother's questioning from inside the door, and the sound of her younger sister's footsteps rushing past as she opened the door, Ira gave the response befitting a member of the Federation: [not giving her name, but simply saying "It's me"]—

"It's me, I'm back."